Montessori on Elm Elementary Program

Montessori schools have mixed-aged elementary classes for 6 to 12 year old children. Children ages 6 to 9 (1st through 3rd grades) learn together in a lower elementary community. The Montessori elementary curriculum offers wide ranging lessons that awaken interest and encourage independent exploration. Lessons with the elementary Montessori materials offer children “keys to the universe”. As children develop independently into their personal interests, the teacher provides encouragement and guidance.

Elementary Math and Geometry
The Montessori mathematics program at the elementary level is designed to awaken both imaginative and analytic musings of the reasoning mind. Children use beautiful, hands on materials as they work toward a precise understanding of the vocabulary of math, arithmetic, place value and algorithms of the four operations. As students acquire precision, vocabulary and the ability to discover patterns, they move naturally to abstract work on paper exploring patterns and algorithms of squaring and cubing, standard and metric measurement, ratio and proportion, factors, multiples and divisors, fractions, decimals and percents and problem solving strategies.

Elementary Cultural Studies: Science and Social Studies
Science and social studies in elementary classrooms are taught as interdisciplinary subjects. Earth science, physical science, astronomy, geography, biology and history are intricately interwoven in the elementary Montessori cultural studies Science and social studies not only inspires students to take on research projects, they help children develop observation capacities and skills in measuring, recording and describing. The lessons also encourage respect and love for the natural environment. A study of the development of life on the earth over the eons ties together the science, history and geography curricula. Biology, geology, mineralogy, meteorology, astronomy, chemistry and elementary physics are explored in the context of learning about the geological history of the world. The biology curriculum is a focus of great energy and enthusiasm in elementary Montessori classrooms.